离我们远去的紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星

2024年10月19日

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS Flys Away
Image Credit & Copyright: Xingyang Cai

Explanation: These six panels follow daily apparitions of comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS as it moved away from our fair planet during the past week. The images were taken with the same camera and lens at the indicated dates and locations from California, planet Earth. At far right on October 12 the visitor from the distant Oort cloud was near its closest approach, some 70 million kilometers (about 4 light-minutes) away. Its bright coma and long dust tail were close on the sky to the setting Sun but still easy to spot against a bright western horizon. Over the following days, the outbound comet steadily climbs above the ecliptic and north into the darker western evening sky, but begins to fade from view. Crossing the Earth’s orbital plane around October 14, Tsuchinshan-ATLAS exhibits a noticeable antitail extended toward the western horizon. Higher in the evening sky at sunset by October 17 (far left) the comet has faded and reached a distance of around 77 million kilometers from planet Earth. Hopefully you enjoyed some of Tsuchinshan-ATLAS’s bid to become the best comet of 2024. This comet’s initial orbital period estimates were a mere 80,000 years, but in fact it may never return to the inner Solar System.

Growing Gallery: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS in 2024
Tomorrow’s picture: a simulated universe

离我们远去的紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星
影像提供与版权: Xingyang Cai

说明: 这六块图板呈现紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星（C/2023 A3），在过去一星期中逐渐离地球远去的身影。所有图板都使用相同的相机和镜头，摄于标示的日期及地球美国加州的特定地点。最右边的图板摄于10月12日，当时来自遥远欧特云的这颗彗星，位于距离地球约7,000万公里（约4光分钟）远的近地点附近。当时尽管彗星很靠近地平线及落日，但它的明亮彗发和长长的尘尾依然清晰可见。接下来的这些晚上，随着彗星逐渐远离，彗星在日落后的西方天空中，也逐步往北往黄道面上方攀升，进入更幽暗的夜空，而其亮度也开始下降。大约在10月14日，紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星穿过地球的轨道面，并曳着一道往西方地平线伸展的鲜明反彗尾。在10月17日（最左图板），日落后高悬在天空中的这颗彗星，距离地球约有7,700万公里，而亮度已大幅衰减。在紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星努力成为2024年大彗星的过程中，希望你有幸亲眼目睹了的它的风采。这颗彗星的轨道周期起初估计为8万年，但事实上，它可能一去不回。

不断增长的画廊: 2024年的紫金山-阿特拉斯彗星
明日的图片: a simulated universe